Photo Credit: Maryleen Guevara (4th April – Academy 2, Manchester)
Cassyette – the Queen of Essex, the ayatollah of pop rock n’ rolla and the nu-metal pop provocateur rode her musical chariot into Glasgow this week for a sweat-soaked, hip-swinging, melody-infused show at the city’s SWG3 venue. Of course your ever faithful Bring the Noise UK were there to hear every note, jump in tandem to every riff and roar our approval in between every glorious slice of pop soaked rock joy.
It has been nothing short of a meteoric ride for Cassyette who in just a couple of years has evolved from a debut single which dropped after amassing a huge following on TikTok to prowling main stages at the Glastonbury, Download Festival, and a sold out solo tour around the country. Now, on the back of her full length debut album, This World Fucking Sucks, she is in Glasgow, bringing all her monstrous pop hooks, ass booting rock riffs, unapologetic nod to nu-metal and a fistful of electro-pop and drum ‘n’ bass dalliances. Ballads and bangers and the best bits and the swaying, undeniable bops and beats of Limp Bizkit in their pomp, there are flashes of the best and most manic parts of The Prodigy, but moments of Miley Cyrus-esque a voice which could break your heart, rapid bursts of drum n’ bass for all the ravers and bone rattling odes to East German techno.
She’s high energy, she’s painfully honest, baring her soul for all to hear, and as she says herself she can’t be forced into any one or even three genres. She has labelled her sound as ‘nu-gen’. “It’s so important to be yourself,” urges Cassyette to the Glasgow crowd from the stage, “don’t let someone put you in a box, fuck that!” And into Ipecac, the band explode with a set opener at full pelt, snarling all the while smiling at the same time with an unapologetic attitude with this anthem for her fans who are of course affectionately known as her degenerettes.
Like That is next with the former gripping us all through its pulsating rhythm and drawing us deeper into Cassyette’s sonic grip and a track which is a bold declaration of self-confidence and defiance. As the set progressed, Cassyette seamlessly transitioned from the brief but furious musical rage of DIEHATECRY, the epic sing-a-long inducing melodic September Rain and Go (Wall Of Hugs) each song is a little different to the last, something which dips a toe across a multitude of genres but always, never straying too far, from the unique Cassyette sound which has us all rising and falling to every bar and note.
The newest single hot off the press and soaring up the streaming pile is When She Told Me – a song which emotionally details the “worst moment” of her life which was the moment she found out her father had passed away, “I can’t cry anymore, And I can’t catch my breath, there’s no oxygen out here, I was altered when she told me … Never been good since she told me.”
Midway through the set, Cassyette slowed the tempo with the introspective Dead Roses – about the death of a relationship, with the lyric “we’re sleeping on dead roses” serving as a “metaphor for the relationship and the thorns were the pain I felt realising we had fallen out of love“, in Cassyette’s own words. The pace is relentless and the crowd are hear for it, hanging on her every word. “This next song is about a really shitty break up and the complicated mindfuck which follows,” she explains with Over It which gets a huge cheer from the floor.
The mood lifts, and the energy for the crowd favourite Mayhem, which was head, shoulder and clenched fists, the track which generated the most obvious reaction from the crowd. A roar, an ear splitting accapella chorus from the thousands surging to the stage had Cassyette grinning from ear to ear. Her debut record is set to drop imminently and between songs the breathless star is obviously buzzing for the album to finally be in the hands of her degenerettes. “My album is nearly done and I’ve never done this much work in my entire life,” she laughs warmly. “It’s been a real labour of love and I can’t wait for you to hear it. The time period I wrote it I was going through a lot as I lost my Dad and it was in the middle of lockdown. That was a shitty time for all of us but at the end of it there were a few real, core friends who were there for me through it all. This is so important and I know I sound like a preacher here”
Petrichor is a personal song about battling tragedy and loss and returning to the light after the dark times which can engulf us; Prison Purse and This World Fucking Sucks follow before the set closer, the mega popular Dear Goth, brings to an end a thrilling set in the SWG3 warehouse. “I need help. I’m going out of my mind. Tell me can you hear me.., Cry cos I’ve been living a lie, Dear goth, I can’t sleep tonight … I pray my soul to keep.” A song which explores spirituality and finding your place, where you sit, where you feel comfortable, an anthem for her degenerettes, what better way to end than here? 8/10
Written By: Eric Mackinnon
